If you’ve ever seen a toucan, they’ve probably left an impression on you. With their vibrant colours and large bills, they’re a beautiful bird. If you’ve ever had any queries about toucans today is your lucky day. We’ve answered some common questions about these incredible birds.
That beak is massive! Why doesn’t he topple over?
Even though the beak is almost as big as the toucan’s body, it’s really light as it’s made out of the same stuff as hair. That makes me feel a bit weird for some reason. Despite it being very lightweight, the toucan still prefers to hop about rather than fly. If you had wings, would you hop rather than fly? What a waste…
The toucan we feature on our ad is a keel-billed toucan named Shaun (I just named him that, just now.) The keel-billed toucan is the most colourful beaked toucan; it can be green, red, orange and/or yellow. Despite its main diet of fruits and berries (sounds like my mum), it can also snack on eggs, insects and lizards thanks to its dexterous bill (my mum doesn’t eat these things).
Where would I find such a bird?
Our lad was filmed in Colombia. They are native to South America, in jungley areas. This explains why they hop more than fly; all the branches and trees get in the way of a good flight path. They make their homes in holes in trees where they live with their family. It can be a bit tight for space in a toucan’s home, so they tend to sleep with their bills tucked into their body. They’re very rarely seen on their own; they travel in flocks of between six and 15 mates. A toucan sounds like a really nice bird with a community spirit.
I can show you two:
Lovely aren’t they? With such a melodic song. A lady toucan can lay between one and five eggs, at a time, in her tree hole. Her and her husband will take turns to incubate the eggs, then when they hatch both birds will feed and care for the chicks equally. What a modern set up!